Another Kiwi on top at World Cup regatta

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Issue date

28 Apr 2017

Andrew McKenzie cast aside the bitterly cold conditions in Hyeres, France, to fire at the World Cup regatta, winning the last race of the day in the Laser fleet overnight (NZ time).

(Andrew McKenzie won the last Laser race of the day. Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing)

McKenzie produced the standout performance of the day, but he will need to fashion some more strong results over the next two days to lift himself into the top 10 to qualify for Sunday's medal race. The Aon Fast Track squad member is presently 20th in the 60-boat fleet.

"It was a super tough day on a race course that punished rookie errors," McKenzie said. "I carded a couple of big scores but was stoked to pull it back in the last race to get my first World Cup race win. Bring on the come back."

Olympic bronze medallist Sam Meech, who won yesterday's only race in the Lasers, struggled on day three and dropped from fourth overall to 10th but he still the best placed of the Kiwis.

"It was a really long and cold day out there today," he said. "The Lasers had three races and it was freezing right from the start.

"For me, it wasn't a great day. I just felt like nothing went my way. I was in some pretty good positions in the races but couldn't hold it and slipped back. It was a little bit disappointing so in the next couple of days I need to get some better results to lift myself back up the leaderboard.

"Andrew McKenzie had an awesome last race. He just extended on the fleet and took the win. It was really cool to see him out the front there."

McKenzie, who was sixth at last year's World Cup final in Melbourne, is hoping to graduate to the NZL Sailing Team next year, the top tier of Olympic sailors in this country, and is one of a handful pushing Meech in the Laser class.

Liv Mackay and Micah Wilkinson are knocking on the door of the top 10 in the Nacra 17 and are presently in 11th. They produced a series of consistent results overnight (8th, 6th, 14th), as did Josh Porebski and Trent Rippey in the 49er (2nd, 6th and 14th) which lifted them five places to 11th.